Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Randall Named Women's Basketball Assistant Coach

DAYTON, Ohio -- Wright State head women's basketball coach Katrina Merriweather announced Wednesday the addition of Semeka Randall as an assistant coach.

Randall joins the Raider staff after serving as the head coach at Alabama A&M the past three seasons.

Under her guidance in 2014-15, the Lady Bulldogs led the Southwestern Athletic Conference in free-throw shooting, making 449 of 652 attempts for a .689 percentage. Senior point guard Brittney Strickland, who was named second team All-SWAC, was the league's top free-throw shooter, making 134 of 158 attempts for a .848 percentage.

Before coming to Alabama A&M, Randall was the head coach for five years at Ohio University from 2008-12. Under her guidance, several players received All-MAC honors. Randall was also an assistant coach at West Virginia from 2007-08, at Michigan State from 2005-07 and at Cleveland State from 2002-03. During her tenure at Michigan State, the Spartans played for the national championship in 2005, advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2006 and made it to the NCAA second round in 2007.

"Semeka’s reputation, love for the game, tenacity, and pedigree made her an immediate frontrunner for our recruiting coordinator position," said Merriweather. "She brings valuable experience and we share similar beliefs about the student-athlete experience and development. I am confident that her energy will bring the best out of our kids and challenge them to reach their personal best."

A standout guard at Tennessee from 1998-2001, Randall earned Kodak All-America First Team honors in 1999 and 2000. She was an integral part of Tennessee’s 1998 NCAA Championship team that went 39-0, averaging 15.9 points a game while earning honorable mention All-America recognition.

In addition to her All-America honors, she was named the Women’s Basketball Journal’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000, First Team All-Southeast­ern Conference in 1999 and 2000, Second Team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman Team in 1998, and was on the NCAA Mideast Regional All-Tournament team in 1998 and 2000.

Randall scored 1,915 points during her career at Tennessee (13.7 ppg) and added 716 rebounds (5.1 rpg), 286 steals and 236 assists. She ranks fifth on the Lady Vols’ career charts in both points and steals, and third in free throws made (439). Tennessee posted a record of 134-10 during her four-year career, including championship appearances in 1998 and 2000. During the summer of 1998, Randall was the leading scorer for the gold medal-winning USA Jones Cup team.

Randall was the first player chosen in the second round (17th overall) of the 2001 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm. She started 30 of 32 games as a rookie, averaging a career-best 9.4 points. She averaged 5.8 points during her 123-game WNBA career, including 55 starts.

In 2001-02, Randall started all 16 games at point guard and averaged 19 points while playing for the Israeli Professional Basketball League. She played in the Greek Professional Basketball League in 2002-03, again starting all 16 games for her squad. In 2003, she was a member of the Tennessee Fury of the National Women’s Basketball League, averaging 12.2 points as a shooting guard.

In 2004, she completed her four-year WNBA career which included stops in Seattle (2001-02), Utah (2002) and San Antonio (2003-04).

Prior to her exemplary playing career at Tennessee and in the professional ranks, Randall was an accomplished basketball player in high school. She was Parade Magazine’s Player of the Year and a First Team All-American in 1997 while starring at Trinity High School in Garfield Heights, Ohio. She was Ohio’s Miss Basketball in 1996 and 1997, a member of the 1996 and 1997 USA Junior World Championship Qualifying Teams, the MVP of the Ohio state basketball tournament in 1994 and 1996 and the Gatorade Circle of Champions Midwest Player of the Year in 1997. She was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame on May 17, 2008.

Randall graduated from Tennessee in December 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in speech communications.